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Wimbledon Lookahead: No. 1 Djokovic leads top 4 into QFs
Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns against South Africa's Kevin Anderson during their men's singles fourth round match on day eight of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London
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Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns against South Africa's Kevin Anderson during their men's singles fourth round match on day eight of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. Djokovic won 6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5. (AFP/Adrian Dennis) (AFP/Adrian Dennis)
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span class="inline inline-center">Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns against South Africa's Kevin Anderson during their men's singles fourth round match on day eight of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. Djokovic won 6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5. (AFP/Adrian Dennis)
Novak Djokovic is developing a nasty habit of playing Grand Slam matches over two days.
He thinks his latest carried-over contest won't have any effect on him in the Wimbledon quarterfinals Wednesday.
The defending champion and No. 1 seed at the All England Club will be competing for a third day in a row when he faces No. 9 Marin Cilic for a berth in the semifinals.
That's because Djokovic's 6-7 (6), 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 victory over No. 14 Kevin Anderson began on Monday, was suspended because of darkness after four sets, and then resumed Tuesday. The good news for Djokovic is he only needed about 45 minutes to wrap things up, and his match against Cilic is scheduled for second on Centre Court on Wednesday, leaving extra time to rest.
"I wouldn't call it a workout," Djokovic said of his final set against Anderson. "It was good that I played another hour on the match court but it was far, far more difficult than just a simple workout."
At the French Open last month, Djokovic's semifinal against Andy Murray also stretched over two days, and the Serb then lost in the final to Stan Wawrinka.
"It's just how your body reacts and how it recovers," said Djokovic, who hadn't dropped a set this fortnight until facing Anderson. "I think I'm going to be fine. ... I think I haven't spent too much energy throughout this tournament. Of course, this match was by far the toughest I had so far. Let's see. I'm confident I can feel good."
He owns a 12-0 record against Cilic, the reigning U.S. Open champion. That includes a five-set victory in the Wimbledon quarterfinals a year ago.
"I'm going to have to be more aggressive, to play more risky tennis," Cilic said. "Of course, that leaves less margins for error, but that's the way I was playing last year."
The other men's quarterfinals are No. 2 Roger Federer against No. 12 Gilles Simon of France, No. 3 Murray against unseeded Vasek Pospisil of Canada, and No. 4 Wawrinka against No. 21 Richard Gasquet of France.
Federer has won Wimbledon seven times, Djokovic twice, and Murray once. Of the five other remaining men, only one ' Gasquet, in 2007 ' has even made it to the semifinals at the All England Club.(ika)(++++)
